The Coalition for Economic Survival (CES) is continuously fighting for new laws on the local and state level to expand tenants' rights and prevent the loss of existing affordable housing due to demolition, major rehabilitation and vacancy decontrol.

In 1978, CES led the effort to win rent control in the City of Los Angeles. A year later, CES efforts were responsible for winning rent control in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. While the LA County ordinance was fazed out, the work around it led to the incorporation of the City of West Hollywood and the establishment of rent control in this new city in 1984.

More recently, CES led the effort to restrict condo conversions and housing demolitions, which led to the City of Los Angeles substantially increasing tenant relocation assistance money amounts to renters facing eviction.

CES played a significant role in the campaign to defeat Proposition 98, which would have wiped out rent control and tenants' rights throughout California, and winning Proposition 99 providing homeowners' protections against certain eminent domain threats in June 2008.

CES has provided thousands of renters with crucial information to protect their rights at CES' twice-weekly tenants' rights clinic.